You can’t have a month dedicated to bending the rules without having a match from one of the most legendary companies that preached hardcore wrestling other than ECW (Extreme Championship Wrestling). With a roster that included the likes of Raven, The Sandman, Tazz, The Dudley Boys, and Tommy Dreamer it’s no wonder they revolutionized the way the business was run. With that being said, I have an interesting match for you guys today as The Sandman takes on ECW World Heavyweight Champion Steve Corino and Justin Credible in a triple threat Tables, Ladders, Chairs, and Canes match for the championship. The was the first and only time in the history of ECW that the belt was defended in this manner and you had to think that the odds were totally stacked against the champion with not fighting just one, but two guys in the same match. When the match started it looked like Corino and Credible may work together against The Sandman, but Corino had other plans as he began taking them out one by one. Nonetheless, the three began brutalizing each other with the ladders at ringside and occasionally a kendo stick. There was no clear front runner as soon as one looked like he had momentum, another would step in and change the tide.

At one point in the match, they had Sandman in the corner reeling from taking a shot with the ladder. Corino sets up the ladder so that it’s open and pointed at the family jewels of Sandman. Both Corino and Credible get chairs and they hit each end of the ladder forcing impact to the jewels. The mayhem would continue with The Sandman going through a table on the outside and Credible getting a drop toe hold that forced him face first into a chair. Don’t fear though for The Sandman because he would dish out his own brand of punishment as he delivered a vertical suplex into a ladder to Corino while launching a busted open Credible into a table that Credible set up himself on the outside. Then the ultimate fail would happen in the match. Sandman believed that he had everyone gone so he set up the ladder and he tried to climb it. As soon as he got near the top, the legs bent and the ladder collapsed. After going into another table and suffering a huricanrana from Francine (who was at ringside), the Sandman never gave up and he brought a bigger ladder. All he had to do was wait for Corino and Credible to put themselves through a table because he climbed the ladder and he grabbed the belt becoming the new champion. It didn’t matter much because within a few minutes he defended and lost the belt on the same night to Rhyno in one minute.

For today’s Main Event Madness match, I decided to check out the WWE 2003 Royal Rumble match because tonight I am heading to the XWA Xtreme Rumble event. The 03 Rumble match which was held at The Fleetcenter (TD Garden) in Boston and it was an event that I had attended. What is crazy about the event are the names involved in this match. They are names that are no longer with the company, but it promised to be a good one. The Heartbreak Kid Shawn Michaels drew number one and was looking to see if lightning would strike twice for him while Chris Jericho drew number two. The only problem is that when it was time for Jericho to come out from the back, it wasn’t him, but it was Jerichos partner at the time Christian who came out to trick Michaels. All of a sudden we see Jericho come from behind Michaels and he just begins to beat him senseless even using a chair which busted Shawn right open. Nonetheless, Shawn was almost eliminated right away by Jericho. The match would continue on featuring the likes of Christopher Nowinski, Rey Mysterio, Edge, Matt Hardy, Chavo Guerrero, Jeff Hardy, B², Tommy Dreamer, Eddie Guerrero, etc.

One moment in the match that was cheesy, but cool at the time was when the old John Cena came out rapping with an Astros jersey in Boston. Matches like these are full of great spots like Shannon Moore sacrificing himself so that Matt wouldn’t take the grunt of the impact or Jeff Hardy trying for a high flying move, but as soon as he reached the top rope, RVD was there to eliminate him. At one point in the match, Shawn Michaels would come back to the ring and he would attack Chris Jericho which would then cause Test to eliminate Jericho who had lasted quite some time in the ring. There were several wrestlers in the Rumble that I had forgotten had been in the WWE like Tough Enough winner Maven who made a name for himself one year for eliminating The Undertaker (who would get his revenge in this Rumble match). Business in the Rumble would pick up with pick 28 and up as Batista (28), Brock Lesnar (29), and The Undertaker (30) would make their way to clean house. Brock when entering would eliminate Charlie Haas, Shelton Benjamin, and Matt Hardy all in a row while The Undertaker would eliminate John Cena, Jamal, and Maven all in a row. The final four in the match would consist of A-Train, Batista, The Undertaker, and Brock Lesnar. The Undertaker made the mistake of thinking that he had Brock Lensnar down and out with a tombstone, but after eliminating Kane and Batista he took his eyes off of Brock to talk trash to Batista and Brock came from behind and eliminated him to win the Rumble.

There are a few instances in my predictions that I actually do not mind being wrong. For example, when Dean Ambrose pins Kevin Owens to become the WWE Intercontinental Champion or when The Wyatts actually defeat the ECW Originals. Those are the few occasions when I do not mind being wrong as the WWE came to the TD Garden in Boston, MA for WWE TLC 2015. Overall in the night, I finished with a 4-3 record which is a step down from where I was last month with Survivor Series, but as I stated before, I’m not too worried about it. After all, right now I am here to critique a PPV that otherwise looked lackluster from just reading the card for the night. The duds of the night were of course the Rusev/Ryback match, Del Rio/Swagger which was a step up from the 1st one listed), and a few surprises that shouldn’t have been.

The Charlotte/Paige Divas Championship match should have been better than the 1ST match, but it was obvious from the moment Charlotte began to adopt her fathers ways of being in the ring that it wasn’t going to end as a good match. It had potential to be a good match and Paige should’ve won, but that just leaves possibilities for others to step in. The Wyatts/ECW Originals match had a very bogus ending to it and it was in the form of Braun Strowman getting the last elimination of the night for the win. I was happy The Wyatts won, but it should’ve been either Bray or Luke with the last elimination. The last match I had a problem with was the end of the Roman Reigns/Sheamus WWE World Heavyweight Championship match. The League Of Nations comes out and they spoil the match by helping Sheamus ultimately win the match which means we have to continue to deal with Sheamus as WWE World Heavyweight Champion. What made up for it was the fact that Reigns took it to Triple H by pulverizing him on the outside.

Now let’s talk about the positives of the night cause there were a few of those. I want to first send out a big shout out to Boston’s own Sasha Banks and her opponent Becky Lynch for putting on one heck of a Women’s Wrestling match during the pre-show. Notice how I called it a women’s wrestling match! I also want to congratulate tonight’s match of the night honors which go to The New Day for their Ladder match against The USOS and The Lucha Dragons. These guys set the tone for the whole night and they set the bar very high. I also want to congratulate Dean Ambrose for picking up the win (his match with Owens is a close 2nd) and I want to congratulate Owens on being the troll of the night for his comments before the match started. All of those matches are examples of what the WWE needs to pay attention to more because they gave it their all the whole night. Despite half of the card either being OK or just complete crap, it was a fun experience just to be there enjoying the atmosphere. Although, I am giving the PPV a C- for a final grade. Here are the results:

I don’t know about you, but WWE TLC 2015 may be one of the worst pay per views of the year. The vent takes place at The TD Garden in Boston, MA and let’s see who will not be there: Seth Rollins, Randy Orton, Cesaro, and supposedly no John Cena as well. The company is left with a roster that just isn’t good enough to make a Pay Per View work (in my opinion at least). The PPV can be called decent at the most, but just what in the hell is the company thinking with some of the matches. We have a Survivor Series match at a follow up PPV, we have Ryback taking on Rusev in an uninteresting match, and Jack Swagger taking on an opponent that would have made sense a couple of years back when the match would have mattered. I am a huge fan of Alberto Del Rio, but this match just isn’t prevalent anymore and you know Swagger is not becoming US Champ. Charlotte taking on Paige should be decent, but where is Becky Lynch and how about Boston’s own Sasha Banks? The New Day is the hottest thing going as heels and I am super pumped for the ladder match with The USOS and The Lucha Dragons. Hopefully it can muster up some memories of the legendary ladder matches The Dudley Boys had with The Hardy Boys and Edge/Christian. I am also looking forward to the match between Intercontinental Champion Kevin Owens who takes on Dean Ambrose. This could be a match of the night contender in my opinion unless Cena returns, screws Reigns, turns heel. That last statement is the only thing that would make me excited to see with the main event between WWE World Champion Sheamus and Roman Reigns. Here are my predictions for the night:

When you think of all the great managers in WWE history, you may think of guys like Classy Freddie Blassie, Captain Lou Albano, or even Bobby “The Brain” Heenan. I think one of the greatest managers in WWE history may just be the advocate for the beast incarnate Brock Lesnar in Paul Heyman. This is a documentary that looks at the whole entire career of Paul Heyman from his start as a photographer all the way through his time in ECW to the manager we know today. The documentary features interviews with Jim Ross, Jerry “The King” Lawler, Tommy Dreamer, Raven, Rob Van Dam, CM Punk, Brock Lesnar, Larry Zybszko, Bill Apter, The Big Show, Joey Styles, Mick Foley, Tod Gordon, Gabe Sapolsky, Beth Phoenix, Edge, Dusty Rhodes, Ron Buffone, and so many more. Plus you hear stories straight from the horses mouth as he explains his side of the story in a almost two hour documentary.

One of the best quotes in this documentary is that Paul Heyman is a chameleon in the fact that he has been able to adapt to every generation of fans and still be the hated character he has always been. Why are people surprised by this? After all, his mother was a holocaust survivor and his father was the best personal injury lawyer in all of New York, so it’s only a wonder that he is the mad scientist/genius everyone describes him to be. The one thing that is a constant in this documentary is the unbelievable knack that Paul has for discovering talent. He has managed or worked with everyone from Steve Austin, Mick Foley, CM Punk, and Brock Lesnar. So, it’s safe to say that his track record is a good one and not to mention he ran an independent wrestling company that changed the way that the big boys did things in ECW. This is one of the best docs that I have seen since the CM Punk documentary and definitely one worth checking out on the WWE Network or on DVD. Plus he does an amazing impersonation of Dusty Rhodes. I am giving the documentary an A for a final grade.